The Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

A Matter of Life or Death Somewhere in the United Sates, a person’s life is being called into question. He might face either life imprisonment or death as a judgement for his crimes. Capital punishment, also called the death penalty, is execution of a convicted criminal. However, the practice is very controversial in the United States. Many believe that the death sentence should be stopped while others support it as a means of protection for innocent people. The question is, which side is right? Because capital punishment is a decision that severely impacts a person’s life, it should be carefully examined to reach a conclusion on its validity and effectiveness. One of the first issues called into question is the risk of terminating innocent

The parts of the constitution often quoted are the fifth and eighth amendments. First, in the Bill of Rights, it clearly states that “no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime…nor be deprived of life, liberty or property” (U.S. Const. amend. V). The death penalty obviously places the life of the accused in jeopardy, which is unconstitutional according to this clause. Secondly, the eighth amendment is referred to because many see the death penalty as a “cruel and unusual punishment,” which the amendment clearly declares is not to be inflicted (Amend. VIII). On the other hand, people who are pro-death penalty insist that capital punishment is not unconstitutional. There is a clause in the fifth amendment that explains that a man’s life will not be put in jeopardy “without due process of law” (Amend. V). The fourteenth amendment also says, “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” (Amend. XIV). As no man may be punished by the government without a fair trial (Amend. VI), through the process of court examination a man can be found guilty and therefore receive capital punishment for his